Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

VEVAY TOWNSSI1II AND1 ITS HISTORY

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the historical room at the State Capitol. (Others claim that
Mrs. J. N. Bush was the one entitled to the distinction of being
Lansing's first teacher.)
When A. R. Miller came from Ohio to Michigan he had a good
orchard at his old home, and he brought a grain bag full of young
apple trees, cut off near the roots, which he immediately set out
on his Vevay farm. They throve nicely and the new shoots were
carefully guarded, though one day to his great indignation a boy
came along driving an ox team and as he was in need of a goad
he broke off the top of one of these trees, not realizing the great
value set upon them by the owner. These trees were the first to
bear in this part of the country, and great store was set on the
fruit they bore.
After some years Mr. Miller sold his farm to Frank Robb and
moved to a house on the block where Mrs. Stillman now lives.
George Shafer kept a tavern where the Lawrence block now
stands, and one time a donation for some minister was held there,
when John Rayner brought eight bushels of wheat on an ox sled
in the summer time. This caused so much merriiment that the
incident was firmly fixed in Mrs. Stillnan's mind.
Mrs. Stillman's grandfather was a slave owner, like his neighbors, when he lived in New Jersey. When he moved to New York
he had freed them all but two, and when he would have given
theml their freedom lihe found there was then no law in New York
by which he could do so, and when Mrs. Stillman's father and
mnother were married these colored people, a man and woman, were
given to them, and until laws were passed which enabled them to
set free these chattels Mr. and Mrs. Miller had the distinction of
being the only slave owners within that commonwealth.
The years of the Civil War brought several events of a tragic
nature into Mrs. Stillman's life. She had in the meantime married Wm. F. Bowdish, and he responded to his country's call and
enlisted in the 27th Michigan Infantry. Besides seeing a lot of
hard fighting, he was for a time a prisoner at Salisbury, where he
endured great hardships before he was exchanged and allowed to
return home. This regiment was later consolidated with the 28th
Michigan Infantry. Mr. Bowdish did not live many years after
the war.
Howard, the only boy in the Miller family, became a Baptist